Promise Me
by Artemis Chick
Summary: Naru remembers that childhood promise she and Kitaro once made. One shot.


This is my first attempt at writing an anime fanfic, and I hope you guys will like this. Inspired by the Love Hina episode # 25. Because I loved watching it so much, hope I made this one good.

**DISLAIMER: I don't own the copyright of the anime cartoon series Love Hina. **

Promise Me 

Naru Narusigawa couldn't get herself to sleep that night. She lay down on her bed, wide-awake; her eyes stared towards the darkness. Beside her lay Mitsumi Otohime, who was sound asleep.

Naru couldn't get out of her mind the events that happened this morning, when she learned that the girl whom Keitaro Urashima made a promise with that they would go to Tokyo University together was... Mitsumi. _How could it be? _Naru asked herself frustratingly. Mitsumi told her that she had this childhood friend with whom she fell in love with before, and they also made a pact to go to Tokyo University together.

Deep inside, Naru felt annoyed with Mitsumi for taking her place in Keitaro's life. She was very sure with herself that _she _was the one Keitaro had promised to. She can still remember that day as if it only happened yesterday...

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_One sunny day, two children, a boy and a girl, were playing at the playground sandbox. They were trying to make a sandcastle, when the short-haired little girl accidentally knocked it over. _

"_Oh!" she exclaimed when her hand friskily brushed away the sandcastle. The girl's lips quivered, and she looked like she was about to cry._

_The boy who sat in front of her tried to calm her down, saying, "Please don't cry. It's okay. We can make another one." The girl brushed away the tears brimming in her eyes with the back of her hand, and for the second time, both started to make another sand castle._

_When they were done, both looked at the almost-perfect sandcastle in front of them. "It's beautiful!" the girl exclaimed delightfully, her hands clasped together. _

"_Yes! Sure it is!" the boy told her. "Because we made it together!" The girl smiled at what she heard, and the boy thought her smile was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. _

"_Where do you plan to go to school when you grow up?" The boy asked her. _

_The girl jolted out of her thoughts, and without even thinking of it, she blurted out, "Tokyo University."_

"_Tokyo U.?" the boy asked aloud._

"_Yes," the girl replied, so well assured of herself. "They say that when two people love each other, and when they help each other study hard, they go to Tokyo U. together. And when they go there together, they will find happiness. And when they find happiness together, they have already fulfilled more than a promise!" The girl chuckled gleefully at the thought of finding love in Tokyo U. and being with that person forever. "That's why I want to go there," she added._

"_That sounds great!" the boy exclaimed._

"_But I don't have anybody to go there with when I grow up," the girl said with a tinge of sadness in her voice._

_The boy took her hand and looked straight into her eyes, saying, "If you want, I'll go there with you!" he exclaimed._

"_Really?" the girl asked amazingly._

"_Sure! Let's promise each other that we'll be going there together when we grow up!"_

"_Promise me?" she asked, trying to be sure._

"_Oh yes, I promise you." _

_They locked their pinky fingers, a sign that they will be studying there someday when they grow up._

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Of all her childhood memories, this one incident was vividly etched in Naru's consciousness. She also remembered living at Hinata Sou when she was a child, because her mother sent her there, telling her that the fresh mountain air would be good for her. She knew that she met a little boy there, and remembered the promise that they will be studying at Tokyo U. when they grow up. She wasn't sure whether the boy was Keitaro, but it have to be _him._

_It has to be him. And I'm pretty sure that I was that girl he had made a pact with before. _Naru was about to come to that conclusion, but Mitsumi crossed her mind. She felt a surge of bitterness from within. Mitsumi was nice to her, but whenever she would catch her hugging or getting over Keitaro it made her feel jealous. She tried so hard not to show it. What Mitsumi had told her still played in her mind.

"_Keitaro might have known many girls before. It could be either the two of us."_

And now, Keitaro thought that Mitsumi was the little girl at the sandbox. _Why can't he realize that it's me? _Naru thought in despair. Lots of questions filled her mind.

_What if it's another boy whom I met before? Was that really Keitaro, or am I just hallucinating? Did that really happened? Why does Mitsumi have to come into the picture, and what if the girl was her instead of me? _

Out of sadness, she was already about to give up on the fulfillment of the promise between her and Keitaro, when she remembered what her younger sister Mei had told her.

"_Many people love you, Naru! Don't give up on your dream!"_

Naru sat up and decided to go to the kitchen to get a drink of water. When she arrived there, she saw Auntie Haruka at the table. Haruka smiled at her when she saw Naru, and she smiled back.

"You're not asleep yet, Naru?" she asked.

"I just came here to get something to drink," Naru replied as she poured herself a glass of water. She went to the table and sat in front of Auntie Haruka.

"You seemed to be very bothered by something," Haruka commented as she watched Naru take a sip of water. "Tell me, is it about Keitaro?" she asked concerningly, as if being able to read what's on her mind.

Naru blushed intensely and almost dropped the glass of water she held in her hand. "How did you know?" she asked, startled.

Auntie Haruka smiled at her and said, "You disliked Keitaro because he clumsy, acts dumb, and can be a pervert sometimes," she said, remembering how Naru would punch him every time he would accidentally pass by whenever the girls bathed at the hot springs situated behind the inn.

"Yes. But... but..." she stammered.

"Is it about the promise you made with your childhood friend?"

"I think it's really him, Auntie. But Mitsumi said that she was the one who was at the sandbox that day." Naru inhaled deeply and continued, "I don't know what to think of anymore, whether to pursue what I'm feeling for him or just leave him to Mitsumi. Because of her, I don't want to go to Tokyo U. anymore."

Haruka reached out for her hand and said, "Follow your heart, Naru, and don't let anyone get in the way of your promise. But Keitaro still has a choice, and if he thinks that he and Mitsumi were meant for each other, respect him for it, and get on with your life."

"Auntie, I realized that..."

Naru couldn't continue anymore and was already on the verge of tears, but she mustered the courage to say it.

"I realized that... I love him. That I will like to go with him to Tokyo U." Naru nodded her head and tried not to show that she was crying. Haruka stood up and went to hug her, just letting her cry gently on her shoulder as she stroked her head.

"I know you love him, even thought you hate him sometimes," she told Naru. "Remember what I told you about losing the guy I loved to my best friend because I was too shy tot ell him how I felt? Don't let that happen to you, and tell Keitaro how you feel for him."

They were silent for a long time. Naru cried as she embraced Auntie Haruka; over her hidden feelings for Keitaro, her jealousy over Mitsumi, and her lost promise. When she felt better, she drank another glass of water and told Haruka that she was already okay after having a good cry.

"I'm glad you're fine now, Naru. Go to sleep, and think it over tomorrow," she said.

"Thanks very much, Auntie. Good night." With that, Naru bade her farewell and went back to her room.

She laid down on her bed and thought that even if she's jealous of Mitsumi, she didn't have the heart to be angry with her. But when she found out that Keitaro failed again in the university's entrance exam, he told her the following words:

"_I'll wait for you, Naru. We still have one year to study again."_

_Maybe, by the next try, both of us will pass the entrance exam and we will be studying there together. Maybe I don't have to be so jealous of Mitsumi, after all, _Naru thought as she looked at the sleeping Mitsumi beside her. With what Keitaro had told her, she felt assured of the promise they made to each other before.

_Or if things didn't go out the way I want them to be, of course, I'll feel bad about it. But I guess it's a way of destiny that something better is about to happen. _

With this thought in mind, Naru smiled and felt peace within her, knowing that a promise fulfilled or a promise broken will make everything turn out all right between her and Keitaro.

_-FIN-_

**Thanks for reading my story! Please review! **


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